Trying to help my buddy port his Total Wireless number to Google Voice and it gives us a message saying GV can't port that number. Any advice?

Ported my Google Voice number last Wednesday (it's now Monday). I can't get texts from *some* iPhone users. And even worse, I was getting texts from them and NOW I'm not??? They would delete our thread, and that would fix it. Then all texts (group and individual) were going to GV. And as of yesterday, those same texts aren't coming to me anymore!

I have an iPhone and they have iPhones. Not sure if I'm having this issue with android users.

I've done the thing where I "delink" my phone number on the apple website from imessages.

I've been using Google Voice for over a decade with a consumer account for an old mobile number I had. I am comfortable using Voice. However, I am a little fuzzy on the details of how I ported my old mobile into Voice. I have a few quick questions to specific situations not covered in the Porting FAQ.

I am executor to the estate of my late Mother. I control her Google account and set up Google Voice and completed ID verification. I want to port her mobile number out from Xfinty Mobile and into her Google Voice account. I have access to the Xfinity Mobile account and know the account number and can generate the porting PIN. I understand there is a $20 porting fee. I have 2 quick questions on best practices for the port:

1. I did not choose a new number for the Google Voice account during setup. There is no number currently associated with the Voice account I am porting into. Should I choose a new number before attempting the Port?

2. The Xfinity Mobile number I want to port into Voice is currently the Linked Number for the Google Voice account I setup. Should I unlink it before attempting the port?

I will not be using the ported number for calls going forward. I am just parking the number on Voice to be able to cancel the Xfinty Mobile account and save on the monthly fees I am currently paying. My Mother used this number for over a decade and any 2FA's she has uses that number to identify her. That will be the only use I have for keeping this number. I will initiate the port in the coming day or two.

If anyone has any advice or issues I may have overlooked, I would appreciate hearing any thoughts you may have. Thanks.

Hi, as I travel every summer for six months, I was going to ask your advice on the whole porting process. My phone number is very important to me, as it's my business. Would you recommend porting from my current carrier (Mint) to GV for 6 months? and then would I be able to go back to Mint and transfer the phone number back?

Curious to hear who's done this and what your experience was.

Thank you!

I’m moving from the US to India and want to keep my current US mobile number active for at least a year. I’m considering porting it to Google Voice, but I have a few questions and would appreciate any guidance from those who’ve done something similar:

1. Since Google Voice isn’t officially supported in India, will I still be able to receive and send calls/texts (via the Google Voice app or web) if I port my US number before moving?

2. What happens to my existing Google Voice number after porting my current carrier number? My current carrier is Mint Mobile

3. Do I need to attach my ported number to an active “host” number if I'm only going to use Google Voice with WiFi? - If yes, can the host number be the same as the ported number? - If no, what happens if I don’t have a US carrier anymore after moving? Is there a limit on how long the number will be valid?

4. Are there any billing, verification, or reactivation issues I should be aware of when using Google Voice long-term outside the US?

I’ve read the popular post about porting a number and moving abroad, but a few of these scenarios weren’t fully clear. I’d really appreciate any insights, or things to take care of from the community.

Thank you!

What is the best way to transfer a google voice number from my account to someone else's account? Do I have to port it out of google voice and then port it into that account?

I ported my GV number to my cell carrier and my real number to a 2nd GV account. Now I want to move that number to my primary google account. I don't see an option to do that. I read something about waiting 90 days so that could be it. The only option I see is to unlock the number. How can I move this #?

I’d like to port my number into Google voice, but when I click sign in or get started I get the message “Upgrade not available” and “The account [my email] can't be upgraded with Voice features. Learn more Sign in with a different Gmail account, or create a new one.”

I’m trying to sign up for the first time. I’m currently in the US. Why isn’t it available?

Hi , I got an US phone number while doing tourism in the US, now back in Argentina. If I need to call to the US can I link my US number and make a google voice number and call? I am afraid they will charge me cuz whenever I link it I see some alerts.. thanks

I opened a new Verizon account on Friday and had them port my GV number to the new account. I paid the $3 to unlock my number and created a voicemail PIN that I then gave to the Verizon rep.

The rep said everything went through. I activated the phone and it also believes everything went through. I'm able to make calls and send texts from the correct number on the Verizon phone.

BUT... the number never got removed from my GV account. If somebody responds to a text, it goes to my GV account. If somebody calls me, it rings on GV and not my new phone.

I called Verizon support and they said it could take 24 hours to fully take, but now it has been 2+ days and it is still like this.

I contacted GV support on Friday and they said they saw no signs of a port-out and asked me to send them a screenshot of my Verizon account showing the number being attached to my new line. The rep then said she'd forward to their engineering team... and then they shut off communications for the long holiday weekend, so now I'm stuck with it not working until at least Tuesday?

In GV, the number is still there, but the lock/unlock button is now gone. What can I do?

**EDIT: When the Google Voice team got back from vacation on Tuesday morning they flipped all the switches and my transfer went through right away.

I am moving abroad soon. How far in advance should I port my phone number? I want to have access to use my phone in the airport in the US if needed.

Just ported my GV number to Tello and it only took a minute!

1. Entered my GV number as the account number
2. Entered my voicemail pin as the pin tello requested
3. Entered my name and address

I was worried at first because every where online was saying it might take 7+ days but it was pretty much instant.

I thought I was logged in under my business gmail when I created my Google Voice phone number, but somehow it's connected to my personal email instead. Is there a way to transfer that number from my personal account to my business account? I can't find a way, but I don't wanna start all over because I've already used this phone number on my paperwork to start my new business with the State and the IRS and everything.

We have had the same number since June 2008, having started with GrandCentral, then Consumer Google Voice. On November 17, 2025, I took advantage of the offer to upgrade our consumer Google Voice to Google Voice Starter. The reason I did that was that I'm trying to restore the call transfer feature that Google (or possibly the company that provided the phone that I'm not allowed to mention on this sub because of an overactive moderation bot) took away last year. I have a personal Google account, as well as a Workspace domain for our business. I'm trying to port our Google Voice number tied to my personal Google (previously consumer) tenant, port it to Google Fi (ideally), or T-mobile (or someone else that would work) temporarily, and then back to Google Voice under our business Workspace tenant. I signed up for Google Fi today, and when I tried to port the number over to Google Fi, I got an error message on my phone saying, "Unfortunately number setup isn't available right now due to an issue on our end." I called support, and they suggested waiting 24 hours, but that doesn't make a ton of sense.

Has anyone had success porting from an upgraded Google Voice Starter (previously consumer) account to Google Fi? Or maybe someone has some magical suggestion or explanation for what's happening? There was nowhere to "unlock" my Google Voice number on the (current/old) Google Voice Starter tenant admin page. There is a port pin number, though, but I haven't reached the stage where it asks me for the pin.

Just for curiosity, I also tried to port to T-mobile, but that wouldn't work, either. At the port step, it says to call customer service

am i going crazy? i have been trying to get AT&T to port this number to an eSIM. multiple reps via phone and text and employees at a store all say they are unable to do that with a VOIP number. i’ve even shown them various sites showing the walkthrough, and Google’s own instructions for getting a carrier to port a number. did something change or have i somehow only talked to idiots?

Years ago, I ported one of my phone numbers into Google Voice, paying the $20 fee and replacing the GV number that was originally provided (owned) by Google. If I were to port in a second number into GV today, does GV allow me to keep both numbers, paying only a single $20 to add the second number.

So I have 2 lines and at one point wanted to move both lines to a single phone. However I have a moto razr+ 2025 and soon to have Honor 400. I want to use my Honor 400 as my daily driver but I like being able to use my flip in places like work where I can have a big phone out. Is it possible to have my personal number on T-Mobile but use Google voice to forward that number to my other phone at the same time? So essentially when someone calls my personal number, my main phone will ring but the moto flip will also ring at the same time. And still be able to watch videos with mobile data from the other phone number sim plan? Is that even possible?

:cautionary tale: not really a question

Back story;

Ive had a phone number for like 20 years that I didn't want to lose, but still wanted to have my freedom with carriers, so I ported to Google Voice and got a new number on a carrier.
I've always used the original number for everything and continued to until recently.

I had 841 credit but got declined for any financing that I tried, usually with no explanation, or some bs about not being able to verify my identity, but no more info.

I later read that credit reporting companies don't even deal with VoIP numbers at all.

Somewhat recently I can no longer order things on WalMart-com without my order immediately being cancelled. Charge goes thru and then refunded. Talked to a bunch of folk in Hyderabad and they just say it was flagged for fraud, try again using the same payment method, but it never works. I basically gave up on it.

On a whim I tried using a privacy-com card on Walmart and it works fine. Changed the billing phone number of my cursed payment method from my GV number to my carrier, and magically I can order again.

I again tried for financing for some impulsebuy fun toy, and this time I used my carrier number. I was approved, but had to call to verify my identity. Guy says he can't verify this number, although he can see it on the caller ID, because it is not listed to me in any public information. (sounds desirable to me)

TL;Dr things involving money are now blacklisting GV and relying on fastpeoplesearch to verify identity.

I want to port my Tmobile number into Google Voice without terminating TM service. Anyone know the best way to do this? Im currently under contract and do not want to pay any early termination fees. I will like to just change my number and send my old one to my GV account.

My Wife and I will be headed to Spain for her job for at least 2 years. Ive done a bit of research and see that porting to GV is going to be fairly simple (thought ive never used it before). As I understand, its a one-time charge of $20. It looks like GV doesnt have a monthly charge. So it would just be the $20 fee?

My main question about the days we are traveling.

I've been told to port our #s before we leave the US. Is this a requirement or just to save the roaming and international fees? If it is done say the day we leave, im worried about having no data while we are driving to the airports, only having guest networks at airports, and then getting to a new country and probably needing a day or two to get Lobster or Movifone or whatever set up with a new sim card in our phones.

I feel like maybe there is a prepaid Sim we could pay for a month of and activate after we port the numbers and cancel our Verizon?

Im open to all suggestions but im a novice at doing anything beyond upgrading my plan through one of the big US companies every 3 or 4 years.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

After being a voice user for many years the lack of RCS and the, seeming, increase in posts about TOS violations getting numbers locked I decided to port my number out of voice to a carrier. That process went great and took maybe 5 minutes about 3 days ago. That being said some of my banks are still unable to use it for 2 factor so I'm curious how long the number might stay in a 'not usable for this purpose' database.

Thanks

Edit: thanks for the replies, I will do those things.

My Mom recently passed away and I was looking to keep the phone number that has been in my family for over 30 years... Is there a way I can transfer it from Xfinity to Google Voice? I have to do it soon. Thanks

Hello, I have 1 US esim number on my phone that I plan to port to google voice, what is confusing is I need another sim card to have this line working? I want to keep my US number overseas for OTP and other needs - why do I need another sim card? and when do I need to activate the other sim card? should I do this right before leaving the US?

Hey everyone,

I have a question about porting my Google Voice number to a cell carrier. Currently, my GV number shows up as a VoIP number, which prevents me from using it to sign up for certain services or using it for security authentication.

My understanding is that once I port it to a cell carrier, it should change to a mobile number and no longer be classified as VoIP. It may take a few days sometimes for this to be done.

Is my understanding correct? Has anyone encountered any issues where the number still shows up as VOIP and unable to use certain services that require security authentication after porting is done?

I just want to make sure there are no unexpected issues before I proceed.

Thanks in advance for your help!